There are a number of surgical procedures in which it is necessary or desirable to drill a hole. For example, holes are often drilled in bone using a rotary drill bit to prepare the bone to receive a screw or other bone anchor. A number of drill guides have been developed to guide the drill bit along the proper axis, and/or to set the depth to which the drill bit penetrates the bone. Conventional drill guides generally include a handle having an adjustable length sleeve attached thereto. When used in conjunction with a drill bit having a fixed stop, the length of the sleeve can control the depth to which the drill penetrates the bone (and the depth of the consequent hole).
Conventional drill guides often require two hands to adjust the guide depth, which can be cumbersome and time-consuming for the user. In addition, this can undesirably require that the user remove and set aside the drill while the guide is adjusted, and/or that the user remove the guide from the patient during adjustment. Some conventional drill guides may also be susceptible to inadvertent adjustment of the guide depth while drilling.
There is a continual need for improved drill guides and related methods.